Linking Schemes - Not all Linking Can Help You Rank Well on Google

The online world talks in great detail about the fact that Google gives higher rankings to websites with lots of good backlinks (links from other websites to theirs) versus their competitor's websites with fewer backlinks. Even websites with tonnes of great content can lose out to a competitor’s site that may lack in content but have thousands of backlinks. So what do people do to achieve a higher ranking on Google?

They look for simple ways to build as many backlinks to their website as possible, especially if they are in a highly competitive industry. And knowing that people want a ton of backlinks to their website, other people have created online companies that offer that as a service. By that I mean that you can pay these companies a monthly fee to build backlinks to your website so that you can beat out your competition. Isn’t that genius?

But, should you purchase linking packages to help you achieve a higher ranking on Google? Read on for some helpful advice and direct insight that could help you:

build links effectively

choose the right service providers

and avoid the potential danger of the wrong linking scheme.

Not all linking packages are created equally and in many instances, they could hamper your success.

Rising to the top of Google or any other search engine is important for profitability but it is something that takes work. It does not happen overnight! And any company that claims that they can push your site to the top using their link building services is taking you for a ride. Many new companies are popping up on the Net that offer link building services such as 200 backlinks for $100. They state that they hire full-time professionals to go on to the Internet and create backlinks based on your specifications. You, the site owner, specify the page you want the links to and the keyword phrases you want them to use.

I tested a particular service like this in the fall of 2010. The company was based in California. I purchased 200 links to be built in a month. Over the course of the next several months I used Backlink Watch at http://www.backlinkwatch.com to see where these new links were being created. I found that out of the 200 backlinks that I purchased only about 50 actually showed up on Backlink Watch. Those 50 links were created on all different kinds of forums. Forums that were completely unrelated to web design or SEO.

What the company was doing was creating bogus profiles, using names that they made up, on all of these forums that allowed them to specify different URLs and keyword phrases. Initially these links bumped our site up a few notches in the Google search engine results, but then several months later all the links disappeared and our site dropped down in the listings.

I tested this service to see what would happen and I have to say that my experience was a real eye opener. I wasn't sure how they were going to build the backlinks, as they do not reveal their methods upfront. I shouldn't say that I was surprised to find all those bogus links on all of those forums, but I was.

I highly recommend that people do not use any service like this even if they read testimonials of people saying that their site skyrocketed after using a service like this. It may skyrocket but it will quickly disappear and you will be out the money that you spent, just like I was.

If for some reason you do decide that the best thing for your site is to buy “link packages” then I suggest that you ask the company for details on:

Exactly what type of other websites they are building the links on?

How relevant will these links be to your business?

Are they using an automated program?

Can they demonstrate actual results that their other clients have achieved and sustained over an extended period of time?

Link building is an important element of SEO (search engine optimization) but it shouldn’t be done haphazardly. In order for link building to be something that helps your business, the following things are important:

The sites that link to you are relevant, wherever possible. If a site is relevant to your subject matter, this is seen as a more valuable link than a link from a site built around an unrelated topic. For example, if your site is built around your naturopath business and you have incoming links from blogs about landscaping, the search engines will not award much value to this link. On the other hand, if the link was coming in from let’s say a blog about eating right, the link will have a higher value placed on it and in turn will contribute to the success of your naturopath site.

That the sites that link to your site have a good online reputation. If a site is deemed, by search engines, to be a spam site or a site with less than ethical online marketing practises, this won’t help you for long. It could even hurt you. Too many negative associations could make search engines, such as Google, believe that your site is an unethical site too.

Links should not be spammy. Don’t bombard sites in order to gain links from them. Find out about better link building methods instead.

Yes, there are valuable link building practises but you won’t typically find them for 200 links for $100.00 or something like that. And instead of buying a la carte services from a variety of different providers, why not consider doing business with an ethical SEO company that can help you with a wide variety of services that could increase your traffic and your local SEO success. A good service offering will also include keyword research so that you’re not just reaching blindly toward rankings that may or may not help you. If you need help with your linking strategy or any other element of your online marketing, contact Professional Web Studio, an ethical Calgary SEO provider. Feel free to download our free and helpful ebook (in our blog’s sidebar) that will help you learn how to do SEO the right way.